Friday, September 18, 2009

Breakfast for Dinner "Frog in a Hole" Made Healthy for Tyler Florence Fridays

I was craving breakfast food this week when looking for my Tyler Florence Friday's pick, so I was happy when I saw a recipe for "Frog in a Hole" on the Food Network site from the old How to Boil Water show. I grew up eating these fried eggs cooked in the center of a piece of toast, (although at our  house it was known as "Ding Dong Eggs" and I have no idea why). My older brother Bill used to make them on Saturdays for us while we watched cartoons and it was one of the few ways I liked eggs back then. There was nothing better than that little circle of buttery, fried bread and I loved dipping the edges of the bread into the runny yolk. Since I have been feeling like I have been sliding a bit with my eating habits lately, I did want to get less fat and calories and more fiber into it but still have it be similar to the comfort food I remember. I kept the butter, lessening the amount, switched out the bread to a nice boule made with whole wheat flour, swapped out the regular bacon for my favorite natural (no nitrates/preservatives) turkey bacon and served it with a fruit salad of pineapple, watermelon, kiwi and papaya. A very easy--no effort meal!

You can find the recipe on Food Network, here.


"Frog in a Hole"
Tyler Florence
(Serves 4)

8 slices bacon
4 slices good-quality dense, white bread, such as Tuscan bread
4 to 8 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lay the bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Meanwhile, use a 2-inch cookie cutter or small glass to cut a hole in the center of each slice of bread. Heat the butter over medium heat in a skillet large enough to hold the bread slices in a single layer (or use 2 pans). Cook the butter until it turns a golden brown color. Add the bread and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Flip the bread with a spatula. Now break an egg into the hole in the center of each bread slice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until the eggs have set on the bottom. Then flip and cook 1 more minute. Transfer to plates and serve with the bacon.



Notes/Results: So good! It really hit the spot as a simple dinner. I baked the turkey bacon until it was nice and crisp on a cookie rack over a foil covered pan. To cook the bread and egg, rather than putting a bunch of butter in the pan, I just very lightly buttered both sides of the bread and used just a bit more in the center for the egg. For the egg, Tyler flips it over for a final minute but I prefer to just leave it until the white sets (no runny whites!), but the yolk is still nice and runny--the better to dip the bread in. A definite keeper recipe, in fact I'll probably eat it again tomorrow.


You can see what recipes the other TFF participants chose and what they thought of them by going to the round-up at the TFF website, here.

Happy Weekend!


20 comments:

  1. How lovely, I've never heard of this before. This is a must try for me very soon, thanks.

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  2. This looks so good! That egg inside the crispy crusty bread looks heavenly. So appetizing. I love your bowl of fruit salad on the side. Tyler would be proud.

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  3. Yum! I love frog in the hole...though we always called it toad in the hole! Sounds great lightened up, too. I can see eating it up every day :D

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  4. never had this before but I should try this for dinner soon :)

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  5. I love that you called them "ding dong eggs". How nice of your older brother to make them for you. My husband makes a very good "frog in a hole" or eggs in a basket as we call it. I think this time of year makes people crave comfort foods. I love the thick bread you used. The fruit salad looks pretty darn great too!

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  6. I love how thick and rustic the bread is. I have only seen this kind of breakie in regular sliced bread. Takes it to a whole new level.
    Breakfast for dinner is such a treat, great idea!

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  7. Yum! What a nifty twist on Toad in the Hole. I'm going to try it tomorrow morning.

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  8. The egg inside the crusty bread sounds so good, perfect breakfast lunch or dinner!

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  9. I always made this for my son when he was little; we also called it Toad in the Hole. I always used ordinary white bread, but I LOVE yours with the rustic bread!

    I wish I had a serving of this right now!!

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  10. This is definitely a great idea !! I'm sure everybody is going to love it !

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  11. Were they ding-dong eggs because the egg in the bread is just like frosting in the chocolate cake in a ding-dong?

    Looks delicious :)

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  12. I'm totally hungry and now I'm craving your breakfast! I always thought it was called toad in a hole LOL. I'm a dork! I've never had it before but I know I"d love it.

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  13. We, too, called this toad in the whole. I love that you've lightened the recipe. This is a wonderful way to serve eggs to a large number of people.

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  14. This used to be one of my favorites. I haven't eaten it in so long. Looks delicious - a great breakfast for dinner!

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  15. I've seen/heard about this for years, with everyone calling it something different, but I've actually never had it. Growing up, my Mom used to make fried eggs (without the bread) and we called them "dip-it-in" eggs. Of course, when I mentioned this to any of my friends, they had no idea what I was talking about.

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  16. wow.. this is one unique breakfast.. the egg fits in the bread well.

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  17. I haven't had that in years! Your changes look like a big improvement on the slimy white bread we used to have when my friend's mum used to make this after sleepovers.

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  18. Some childhood foods never grow old. Of course, Italian style would have some olive oil and maybe red pepper flakes, but that's just decoration. Yummy looking,

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  19. Ding dong eggs! I like that, LOL! I blogged about something similar many months ago-- I called them "Toad in the Hole". No matter what, I LOVE this!

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  20. I adore fried eggs, and getting the runny bits with the toast, so this looks perfect to me! (and pssst, just between us, sometimes Tyler is a wee bit heavy with the butter, don't you think?)

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